Individuality of every person, every nail have kept me from doing a general "guide" through at home manicure, but I was asked nicely to do it anyway so I couldn't say no. I fear nail care is taken too lightly and people usually don't even try to find out what type of nails they have, especially if they also have some medical conditions. The same goes for regular nail care. I believe most of you will be able to find nail care routine that will fit you among my suggestions. Keep in mind that what I'm writing about is at home manicure, not salon nail care, and that is why I'm trying to keep it simple so that anyone can do this themselves, but it is more fun if you organise a pampering evening with friends.

Roughly speaking, there are three types of manicure - dry, water and warm oil. You should first see which one of these suits you best. Dry manicure is good for all types of nails, especially if you don't have much time for entire manicure routine or if you don't need additional cuticle softening. Water manicure is good if you have thick, firm, hydrated nails or if you have cuticle overgrowth that needs softening. Warm oil manicure is especially beneficial for dry and/or thin nails, as well as for moments when you want to give more TLC to your nails (for instance at winter).

Dry manicure at its simplest consists of taking down the length/shaping nails, cuticle removal if necessary, painting nails, cuticle oil and hand cream. You can use warm towels to open up pores in order for cuticle oil and hand cream to penetrate deeper into your skin. You can also exfoliate dead skin and wipe off scrub with wet towel or just regular hand wash. What is important is that you don't soak your hands and nails in warm liquid.

dugo i često izlaganje vodi može dovesti do raslojavanja i pucanja noktalong and frequent exposure to water can cause splits and cracks

Water manicure usually consists of the same elements as dry manicure, but with a hand soak at the beginning. Warm soak is good for cuticle softening, degreasing the nail plate and for pore opening, but it also has some downsides. Nail contains about 15% of water, which is mostly distributed between the layers of nail plate. It acts as lubricant that allows nail cells to glide easily as the nail bends. This is why nails that lack moisture are rigid and brittle, and wet nails (after a bath, for instance) are very flexible. The maximum amount of water nail plate can absorb is about 30%, but all this water takes up space between nail plate layers, pushing them apart. Nail that is fully saturated with water changes shape until all that extra water evaporates. Taking a shower, washing hair, washing dishes or doing laundry by hand without wearing protective gloves as well as other activities that require that your hands be in water for more than two or three minutes pose as constant stress for natural nails. Thin and weak nails should particularly be spared from constant soaking because it can lead to nail peeling or splitting at points of stratification. Because nails change shape after a soak I advise against shortening/shaping them after a soak.

Oil manicure uses warm oil soak instead of water soak. Nails contain natural oils in between nail plate cells. While both water and oil move through nail by diffusion, i. e. moving from place of higher concentration to place of lower concentration, they do it in different manner. Water often moves through nail plate cells, but oils move between them, which means they move more slowly than water through nail plate. Amount of oils in nail plate is drastically lower than that of water (about 5%), but the change in the amount of oil in nail plate doesn't present as strong a shock for nail and larger concentration of oil won't damage nail plate. Unlike water oils don't evaporate from nails and dehydration will only remove oils from top layers of nail. Constant use of oils will increase the amount of moisture in the entire nail at the same time providing protection from water. The best oils for nails are jojoba, olive and avocado oils as well as almond and castor oil.

1. I think the first step should always be shortening and shaping your nails if you need either. I hope I have explained how to shape your nails in my article on implements for shortening and shaping nails. In short, you should do it on dry nails. Don't soak your nails and don't wash your hair, take shower or do the dishes right before. It takes about an hour per minute you have kept your hands in warm water for your nails to revert to their normal state. If you have soaked your nails you should apply some moisturiser and wait. You should use short cuts to cut your nails or you can file them using right grit file (not lower than 180). You can shape them with finer files (220 and higher grit), using light motions from one corner of the nail towards centre. Free edge should be sealed with polishing block. You can shorten/shape your nails with your nail polish on if you find it more convenient.

2b. If you are doing water manicure, prepare lukewarm, not hot, soak. You can use regular liquid soap, body wash or manicure soak. Keep you hands in water for several minutes in order to soften the cuticle and to open up the pores and prepare the skin for cream, lotion or oil you may want to use. This is a good moment to use soft manicure brush or old toothbrush and scrub nails and surrounding skin or to use an actual hand scrub (hand made or ready-made). Do have a dry towel at hand and you can put one beneath the bowl in order to protect the surface from dripping.

2c. To do a warm oil soak pour oil in a bowl that can easily be heated and place the bowl in larger dish with hot water. Water should warm up the oil in your bowl. You can add essential oils in your base oil depending on your needs, but do check beforehand which oils and how much of them you can use. This is especially important for pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding. You can add lemon juice to the soak, for whitening. Soak your hands for several minutes, then massage oil into your nails and cuticles. For intensive care you can put your hands in plastic bags and mittens for at least fifteen minutes. Put a towel underneath the bowl and keep paper towels close by to remove excessive oil from your hands.

3. Next step is cuticle removal. I hope I have explained well enough how you should take care of your cuticles in my article about cuticles. You should only remove dead or split tissue. Follow instructions for your chosen cuticle remover and don't keep it on your skin/nails for longer than advised. Scrape cuticles off with wooden stick and wash the remover off thoroughly. If you don't use cuticle remover you can use terry cloth to rub off dead skin off your eponychium. You can do this regularly after shower. I like to do a hand mask along with cuticle removal. I still use BCL ManiSation clay hand mask because it provides good nourishment for my skin. I am sure there are many home made hand mask recipes out there and many manufacturers have ready-made products.

4. Apply hand cream and massage it thoroughly into your hands and skin around your nails. If you haven't planned to paint your nails you can apply a thicker coat of hand cream, put on cotton gloves and go to bed. Your skin will be soft and nourished in the morning. Chose creams that contain more humectants and less occlusives.

5. If you wanted to paint your nails now is the time to do it. Skip it if you have done water manicure and let your nails revert to their natural shape before you apply polish. Otherwise you risk your nail polish starting to chip really soon. You should degrease/dehydrate nail plate before you apply nail polish. Use rubbing alcohol or acetone. Apply base coat, polish and top coat, making sure to cover free edge with every layer and taking care not to get product on your skin. Use drying drops if you need. Put your favourite cuticle oil, cream or serum trying not to mess up your manicure. You're done.

Thank you for taking time to look at my photos, read the article and share your opinion on the subject. Plese, don't link to your websites, blogs, puppy and kitty pictures and other stuff in comments. I'll check out your profile on my own as long as you leave a sensible or interesting comment and I'll treat comments with links as spam.